meal readings

bedshaped2000 said:

Can someone give me a bit of advise,
i have been low carbing now for a couple of weeks and ive been getting excellent results after 1 hour and then the 2 hour mark. Problem is im always hungry. Today i had a bigger meal which was steak cabbage, sprouts ,broccoli,carrots. potato and 2 quorn sausages all weighed portions. Now to some this may seem a lot but i was so hungry. Before i started i was 5.8 after 1 hour 8.3 awaitng the second hour test. is 8.3 acceptable after 1 hour. I know you have to be between 7 and 9 after 2 hours but all week ive been under 7 after a hours testing. Is 8.3 ok after 1 hour or is this a unhealthy spike. Im still trying hard but i needed food today lol

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Hi,

To be at 8.3 one hour after eating such a meal would sound just great to many diabetics. My target is to be below 8 one hour after a meal and I achieve that most of the time. To be between 7 and 9 two hours after eating isn't very good control in my opinion and leaves people at risk of developing the quite nasty diabetic complications.

I'd be interested to have known what your result would have been if you'd just cut out the potatoes? Superb - I would have expected.

I never feel hungry but I put that down to eating a lot of fruit well spaced out between meals at one or two hour intervals. Small oranges and apples being my favourites - but pears also. I carry fruit with me wherever I go.

You sound to be doing just great! Keep it up!

Best wishes - John

Hi there bedshaped2000

What John said is true in many ways - but if after two weeks you have been getting it down from figures in the hight teens and twenties that is of course a brilliant result! It all depends on the starting point.

But if now you want to avoid complications in future, well, as John says, you need to aim lower by whatever means you can. That's why he suggested cutting out potato as that and pasta and rice and cereals etc etc all push it up.

As to being hungry all the time, which is very difficult to put up with I agree, couldn't you have snacks between meals and at all of them, meals and snacks alike, eat loads of stuff that isn't on the "dodgy" list so as to stave off hunger? It's worth a try! I'm doing it with nuts at the moment, and cheese and cold meat and whatever else I can lay hands on that is to hand and staves off the hunger. It's okay to eat the fats and protein if you aren't having the carbs. I think our bodies then use the fat for energy - but someone will come along with the science of it!
DG

bedshaped2000 said:

i understand all that its just i thought after a meal the lower the better. after a meal i can get readings of 6.9 after 1 hour. Is this good? and sometimes 6.2 after 2 hours i thought this was good control?

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It is good control, especially if you haven't been diagnosed all that long or are just getting to grips with all the conflicting information from different sources.

Some people advocate tighter control than the NICE guidelines, I am one of them, however everybody has to find a level that they are comfortable with and build on that. Trying to get too tight a control too soon can be stressful, especially when you think you are not hitting the targets.
You are doing well !!

Just do what you think is right, check back here for more advice and you will soon be down with the ultra low number Diabetic's on the forum. Some of us take a careful but a bit more relaxed view whilst also avoiding complication.......

bedshaped2000 said:

i understand all that its just i thought after a meal the lower the better. after a meal i can get readings of 6.9 after 1 hour. Is this good? and sometimes 6.2 after 2 hours i thought this was good control?

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Hi,

I made a mistake in my post - I should have said "between" 7 and 9 isn't too good after 2 hours. I've edited my post accordingly. Yes - you are correct the lower the better after eating is what you ought to be looking for. 6.9 after 1 hour is just fine. 6.2 after 2 hours is a good result too but personally I'd be looking to get that lower.

You are doing just fine! Whatever you manage to achieve just keep working on getting the numbers even lower.

Best wishes - John

I think you are doing fab! I have terrible spikes after meals but won't give up the carbs, I do count them all though. My results are much higher than yours after eating but my HbA1c has gone from 14.6% in Dec 08 to 6.9% on Thurs, I have now been given 'permission' to make babies!!!
What I'm trying to say is you are doing really well, yes we have diabetes but we also have a life to live and if we want/choose to eat carbs as part of it then that is ok.

Dont forget that your body has become acustomed to running higher blood sugar levels until it gets used to your new levels this is bound to have some impact including making you feel hungry.